Along the Natchez Trace

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

OK, I know you are smarter than I am, look at that list of your credentials. You and I have been researching about the same amount of time. You have degrees, you have standing in the blogging community. You write beautifully, unlike this ole Reflections gal, who uses the words, 'Sorta', 'WOW', 'WAHHOOO', 'yep', and a long long list of slang words. My grammar is lousy, my punctuation is even worse.

All that said, I thought I was a fair researcher, I love my technology, even tho this Smart phone still befuddles me at times. One of your recent posts however, indicated I was far from a fair researcher and far from a wannabe hacker. You ridiculed my (and that of hundreds of other genie/family researchers) inability to "get" research sites and our reluctance to "keep up" with the latest and greatest technology. (No, you did not attack me personally, but, I still took offense, obviously, or why post this rant?)

Some of us just don't have the time or the $$ to buy and play with all the newest techy stuff. Some of us cannot afford to buy a new mega everything computer every 3 months. Some of us cannot afford to have a cell phone, an iPod, and iTouch, a iPad, a Kindle, AND every new scanner known to man. Some of us have limited room to own and store that stuff, I know I cannot store that much stuff when we live extended time in Tana. My printer is tiny, no fax, just a simple old Cannon bubble jet, small, small, small, oh, and it is light weight too, another great factor in Tana. My scanner is also small and light weight, one sheet in, one sheet out, no sheet feeders, they take up room and cost $$. This small scanner has accompanied me on more research trips than I can count. Many (check your repository first) libraries allow me to use it, I have scanned a bucket load of photos from books, pages from books, great scans alive, I have had fun with that scanner for years. I mentioned it is light weight, which means it is pretty easy for me to load on my computer cart with wheels and drag into said libraries. And, glory be, I can do research with all these old tools, and isn't that what it is all about, the ability to DO RESEARCH???

And, then there is the learning curve time. Most of these new toys have "learning curve" time. I mean, I have had that Smart phone for what 4 months, and I have been so busy having FUN and traveling that I still have not cracked the book on that thing. I will find the book and read it - - maybe - - someday, but I don't promise, cause I am having FUN and traveling - -it's all about priorities folks. And, all my comments, here and on FB (Facebook) about my Smart phone being smarter than I - - mmmm, humor, poor attempts at humor. That said, Google maps on my Smart phone has saved my bacon a few times the last several months, so, I guess I am sorta getting that Smart phone after all, eh???

You even pointed out that some of us cannot spell while posting remarks. Maybe we can spell, maybe we cannot, or maybe we have sight issues (not to be confused with SITE issues), or maybe we fat finger our remarks (otherwise known as TYPOS!). Fat fingered remarks once submitted are just too much of a pain to fix and who wants to take the time anyway, unless it is a really really really bad error/typo. Isn't there some famous saying, something akin to, "To err is human - - " ?????????

It appears from your post that you have little empathy for many genie/family researchers. You sounded like you were talking down to us as if we are lowly uneducated, uninformed bugs under your shoes. Sorry if that offends you, but, that is how it read from my computer screen, err, technically, my computer monitor.

There is always talk in the genie/blogging world about professionals vs recreational researchers vs newbies. We chat about sourcing (this way, or ANY way). We frequently discourage the newbies with too much "aim for perfection". Your attitude in these particular posts will discourage some newbie readers. They look up to you, you owe them more than snide put downs. No one, newbie or 'old hangin' on by the straps of my boots' wants to be talked down to or ridiculed. NO ONE! (Oh, dear, seems I might be doing that right now in my rant. RATS!!! Bad Carol, really bad!)

God did not create us all equal, some are gifted with intelligence, some with humility, some with communications skills, some with unequaled love for our fellow beings and God's creatures.

And some of us plug along with our research, loving it all the way, whining a bit when sites change dramatically and those changes become hugely frustrating. We plug along, doing our best, trying to enjoy, trying to keep everything, including our research and our favorite web sites in perspective. We plug along with out of date technology, but, we know how to make it work for us, and IT DOES, well most of the time it does!! Sometimes the two collide, as in, my 2 year old Vista computer has trouble accessing a web site - - so, me wants to know - - is it my 2 year old computer, my air card or the web site that is the culprit, or is it a combo of all? Hmmmm??

We try. And, I get stinkin' mad and then I tend to rant when I feel individuals who have the influence you seem to have treat the masses in a degrading manner.

Your smug attitude smells, it is ugly, it is so un-necessary. A little understanding and empathy could go so far.

Rant closed. Ya, I know, I am the pot, calling the kettle black, but, this is my sand box, errr, pot, where I get to have my rant and my pot or kettle or whatever. I've been stewing this pot for at least a week, now it is time to cook in it!

FINALLY!! She stops!

*Ohhh, please do keep writing about all the great techy stuff/advances and please keep us up to date on all the changes in the web sites, cause we really are interested. We really are!!

**Disclaimer, all those copyrighted names, like iPod, etc, they belong to someone else, I have no stock, no financial interest. I do not have ads on my blog so I don't make any $$ off these plugs or mentions of these products. I may or may not own some of these products. They are named as examples. They make the $$, I buy when I can, I use if I can afford to buy. Bottom line: THEY own the copyright!

**** If you have been reading any blogs the last couple of weeks you will know this subject or variations of it have been all over the blogisphere. It has been said mucho better than I have done so here by several others. But, no links or names here, if you are interested, I could suggest at least one or two others to read. Privately, contact me privately.

***** Another thought, yea, but just ONE more, if we all did everything the same, blogging, research, techy stuff, web sites, I just bet that the world might stop spinning and fall off it's axis. Sorta like the hamburger song, "my way" - - we all get to do it our way, right, wrong, the same, different, - - our way!

14 comments:

Hi Carol,First I want to say thanks for posting on my blog, where I make no pretense of being a brilliant genealogy researcher (see disclaimer first post) but want to tell a story based on all the letters, diaries, artifacts I have inherited that cover most of the 20th century. Yes I've been following (and commenting) on this thread on several sites. People are doing what the love and it should be pretty obvious who are holding themselves out as professionals and which of us are doing our best to research and share what we learn. Live and let live. thanks again for visiting. I hope my site touches emotional chords, real life stories that resonate with others and speak to the human experience, but based on primary documents.

WOW - well said! I've learned to not follow those who are way better than me because of what I perceived as some of this attitude. Stay calm...now that you've got your 'rant' out you can calm down and avoid a heart attack. :)

As I said in my email this morning (I'll use only nice language here)...

You write from the heart and whether or not you (or anyone else) has the newest gadget makes ABSOLUTELY no difference. A gadget cannot do research on its own. The skill, the intellect, and the heart of the person doing the research is still required. So...

I'm with you on this Carol. I've been reading some of those other blogs and it seems to me that, sometimes, the more they talk about this stuff the deeper the "rift" becomes between those who adopt high tech and those that don't. And between those who source to perfection and those who don't. And between those whose ways are seemingly "better" than mine leaving me wondering about the way I do things.

The bottom line is that every individual is just that, an individual. If everyone did everything the same way it would be a pretty boring world!!

Isn't it human nature for some folks to present themselves as bigger, better, and more important by making the others seem less important, intelligent, efficient, or good? I haven't been reading most of the other posts on this topic. Whoever they are, leave them to their opinions from the heights. In my little corner of the genealogy blogosphere, I'm carrying on and keeping calm - just doing the best I can. And so are you - and doing it very well, I might add.

I like Jennifer's "Cheery Be." I think I will and I'm glad you will, too.

How many Smart Phones does it take to transcribe the tombstones in a cemetery, map it out, and provide annotations? Ooops, none, because a Smart Phone doesn't do that, a dedicated human does. And how many genealogists and researchers will use the results? Quite a few. You can be proud of what you have accomplished - with all of your recalcitrant electronics! I hope to hear your voice in person some day, because your personality comes through your writing so well - it's as though I can hear a real person saying those things.

Nancy, you have human nature pegged quite well! Thank you for that nice compliment.

Greta, I don't care HOW smart my Smart phone is, I do not believe that it will catalog a cemetery! LOL That is sweet what you said about my voice. Man says sometimes I get too loud, in all my excitement. I tell him I am passionate about my causes! LOL

Carol,I've been to your blog before, but now I'm a follower. I appreciate the comment you made on my blog, which led me here. Little did I know how much fun I was going to have reading your rant! Thanks for putting things in perspective.

Count

All photos on this blog are those taken by Man or Moi, unless otherwise noted. Documents are either from some great genealogy site or are scans of originals I have turned up in my years of research. Other images should be accompanied by some kind of source data.

Please be courteous, if you borrow them, give us credit. We know you are clicking! Thank you, we are honored you care to borrow.

Splitting the Family Tree

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About Me

Things I love: Family, Grandchildren, Rving, computers (sometimes, but not when they are being bad), family history, yorkies, techy toys like my iToys, photography.
I am all of these, so I write about them all, and more.

Photo courtesy of Deborah Flynn Guinther

If you surf in and see a name in your family tree, please contact me, best way, of course, is by email. You know the routine, change the AT and the DOT:
lashbrooke5 AT yahoo DOT com

Which Am I?

Am I a genealogist or a family historian?

Well, both of course, how can you be one without the other?

A family historian depends on the genealogist to supply the facts.

A genealogist depends on the family historian to tell the stories.

Genealogist, family historian, I am one in the same.

The bad towing machine: JGGBB4, Jolly Green Giant Big Butt 4.

Favorite sayings

" Living on Earth isn't cheap, but it does include a yearly free trip around the sun." (Source unknown.)

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt

"The only difference between a rut and a grave...is the depth."

Chinese proverb: "To forget one's ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root."

"I sure wish they sold memory sticks for humans...I could use an upgrade."

"Don't let procrastination be your primary time management skill."

"If you are normal....no one will listen, If you're deranged....they will make you their leader."

"You're just jealous that the voices are talking to ME!"

"I'm quite sure that no friendship yields its true pleasure and nobility of nature without frequent communication, sympathy and service." (From George E. Woodberry)

"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand." (From Henri Nouwen)

"Don't go where the road leads, rather go where there is no road and make a trail."

"Broken hearts are what give us strength, understanding and compassion."